


The Tiger's Cage

by OccasionallyCreative



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, One Shot, Other, Texting, Traffic, travelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-25 01:02:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/633434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OccasionallyCreative/pseuds/OccasionallyCreative
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>San Francisco traffic is never a wingman's friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tiger's Cage

**Author's Note:**

> Set around the time of Ep. 78 in the LBD canon.

Darcy glanced at his old friend, more than a little worried. Ever since they’d departed the airport, Fitz had been grinning a lot wider than usual and had also been fixed to his phone—so fixed in fact that he had passed driving responsibilities to Darcy (a privilege, considering they were driving in Fitz’s car, which he often referred to as the second love of his life). And as they joined the back of a long queue coming into San Francisco, Fitz groaned and cursed out loud. Darcy’s frown deepened.

“Fitz, it’s just a traffic jam. You’ve never shown displeasure over them before.”

“Today’s different,” Fitz snapped, but immediately smiled. If Darcy didn’t know Fitz any better, he’d think he was trying to keep in Darcy’s good books.

“What are you up to?” he asked slowly, shifting down a gear. Fitz shrugged.

“Nothing. I mean, haven’t you got a board meeting to get to?”

“Oh. Of course. I’d better ring my receptionist—tell her I’ll be a little late,” Darcy muttered, flicking open his phone. Fitz shook his head and yanked the phone from his hand.

“Nuh-uh. I’ve already done so,” he said. As if on cue, his own phone beeped. Quickly he handed Darcy's phone back to him. Careful not to let Darcy see, he clicked the message open on his own phone and refrained from cursing out loud once again.

 _Where are you?! The eagle’s about to fly!_ \- **G.**

Eyeing Darcy and seeing how his friend was now scanning the traffic for a possible gap, Fitz surreptitiously texted back, a tiny thrill of excitement bubbling through him. 

_Tiger’s stuck in traffic. Updates later._ \- **F.**

Tucking his phone back in his pocket, Fitz turned on the radio. A bubbly, happy pop song blasted out at them. Quickly, he turned it down and hummed along with the tune. Instantly, Darcy reached out.

“Jinx!” Fitz yelled quickly, not missing a beat. Darcy sighed, but said nothing. Over the years, he and Fitz had come to an agreement: when in the car, the word “jinx” meant that the person who’d called it had choice of music for the rest of the journey. It seemed he would have to deal with this for now.

“Hey, Darcy,” Fitz said after a moment. Darcy made a noise to show he was listening, but kept his eyes on the road.

“You’re aware… Lizzie’s shadowing your company, right?”

“I was made aware of it by my receptionist, yes.”

“Oh. Cool. You’re okay with it?”

“I’m fine with it, Fitz. I’m not going to let any feelings I have for her, romantic or otherwise, interrupt her educational progress.”

“And if you happened to meet her…?”

“What’s this about? Is this another scheme of yours?” Darcy asked, now suspicious. Fitz put on his best “what, me?” face and shrugged.

“Just concern for my wingman, that’s all,” he said, the lie tripping off his tongue. After all, it would only benefit Darcy in the long term. Darcy made a little “harrumph” noise and went back to watching the traffic. It was just starting to inch forward, but no gaps had appeared. Darcy sighed with frustration and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel.

“I’ve made it so that she won’t have to accidentally meet me,” he muttered, avoiding Fitz’s eyes.

“But you’re the CEO. She’s shadowing your company. She’s going to need to talk to you eventually, don’t you think?”

“She can get any of the information she needs from any of my staff,” he replied crisply, stiffening a little. “Aren't you going to answer that?” he added, nodding towards Fitz’s trouser pocket. Fitz sighed and took his phone out of his pocket (which had been beeping on and off for about a minute now).

 _Hurry up! Eagle ready to fly!_ \- **G**

 _Stalling’s not working! I can’t talk about grad school forever!_ \- **G**

 _Eagle cannot be caged! Eagle cannot be caged!_ \- **G**

Fitz rolled his eyes, but understood Gigi’s panic. If they didn’t get out of this traffic jam soon, all of their planning would've been for nothing and his wingman card would most certainly need to be revoked.

 _Hang in there. Traffic’s bad._ \- **F.**

Suddenly, a miracle took place. He first saw it in the wing mirror, and he had to bite down on his bottom lip to stop from yelling out in joy. A police car sped past them, sirens blaring out. It stopped a few miles ahead of them and the policeman leapt out, directing the cars onto another route. Darcy shifted into another gear (a little too violently for Fitz’s liking, but this wasn’t the time to complain), and pressed his foot on his accelerator.

“Can’t you speed up a little?” Fitz asked irritably.

“For what reason?” Darcy replied, frowning again.

“Board meeting, remember?”

Darcy nodded and increased his speed. Fitz smiled a little smile and turned his attention back to his mobile, tapping out another message.

 _Tiger’s free. On our way—five minutes at most._ \- **F.**

Pressing “Send”, he slipped the phone back into his pocket and leant back into the passenger seat. Despite a few hiccups, it was all coming together. His wingman card was not going to be taken from him any time soon.


End file.
